The Search for Perfection – Islamic Garden Design

In Islamic tradition, gardens and leafy courtyards are a foretaste of paradise. They are places to find shade and to rest, places for families and friends to gather. But the typical features of such gardens were developed much earlier: 2,500 years ago, the kings of Persia commissioned magnificent palace gardens, bursting with fragrant flowers and shrubs, cooled by watercourses, pools and fountains, and surrounded by high walls. Pavilions and trellises provided shade and dappled sunlight. The kings’ engineers created underground channels to bring water from faraway sources.